I didn�t think I was supposed to notice anything until around zap 12 but I feel a bit fried with a slight headache.

I arrived about a half hour early today and there was a different Tech at the helm of the Tomo machine (or maybe I was the wrong patient!).

The mask felt different, didn�t seem to be crushing my Larynx like yesterday and actually seemed a bit roomier (Maybe it was the wrong mask!).

He buckled me down, then in and out the donut for the CT phase. It seemed like it took forever between the CT and Zap phase � like maybe the CT and Plan Program were not lining up? (Maybe not my Plan -eek).

Then he came over and changed something so the laser crosshairs seemed to move from being center across my nose to dissecting my right eyeball! Then back down the donut �.

Like yesterday, the machine roared around my head like a freight train and when it finally rolled me out I seemed disoriented, somewhat off balance, and couldn�t find my way back to the dressing room. The place is a maze and every turn I made there was another room with another alien zap machine! Sci-Fi nightmare!

I finally managed to find my way back to my Tomo machine. It looked hungry and menacing, but the Tech was still there and he led me back to the dressing room - I think he called me by the wrong name

Can�t help but wonder if that freight train thing running around inside that Tomo machine jumped the track and zapped a few of my brain cells!

I managed to stumble out of the Cancer Center to the mall across the street and find solace at a Starbucks in Mocha Latt�.

One thing about Tomo phobia is for at least a while; it totally took my mind off my PEG

What a way to forget about your peg. You had a rough day Don. I never heqrd about your reactions and never had them either. Maybe that train did jump the tracks.

You know, you are real early in the process to be having this kind of disorientation if people get it at all. You will feel your mask get looser as treatment progresses because you are losing weight, but that is also further down the road. I would speak to the radiation oncologist that is your doctor and see if he concurs that your experience is normal or abnormal. You listed several things that all seem like warning flags to me. What are the odds that the tech got all this stuff wrong vs. you just feeling that he did. Calling you the wrong name was the straw that breaks it for me. I would want the doctor to review your last session which is a matter of record before you go into the machine again. You may not be crazy. Hospitals are not perfect. Techs are radiating people for lots of things besides oral cancers in people's heads, all who use a mask, and several brain cancer patients I have talked with get disoriented after treatment. I have never seen a post on here about this happening to people getting their necks and mouths nuked. I don't want to spook you, but just to be on the safe side make the call to the doctor.

Hi Don,

I've just finished my 25th treatment and nothing like this has ever happened to me. I always have two techicians in the room positioning me and cross checking information - one of the cross checks is that I have to provide them with my name and date of birth. This is usually just before I put my bite bit in - and then they put the mask over and clip it in place.

My mask does feel different some days because sometimes my neck and face are more swollen than usual. But as Brian pointed out you should not have lost significant weight or even retained fluid at this point.

I would follow this up if I was you and also be querying their procedures if they are not confirming and cross checking patient information before commencing treatments.

Good Luck!

Sue

Make that Three down - thirty two to go

Well after a disconcerting start, today�s session certainly end a lot better than yesterday�s. The session went well and afterwards I felt fine, but as to the start�.

The same Tech came to the waiting room and motioned me to follow him into the Tomo Room. As he was beginning to position me on the bed of the Tomo, I notice a small LCD screen on the Tomo displaying a digital picture of a different patient. Pointing to the display I said �that�s not me � he is still in the waiting room�. The Tech looked perplexed and told me to return to the waiting room.

That other patient had been in the waiting room holding his head. He was perhaps similar in appearance, age, height but rather slim (I am not heavy, but certainly not that slim � yet) and he didn�t have a PEG since he was wearing a tee shirt (Unlike me, he was not required to change into a gown).

Perhaps this is just coincidental, but it makes me all that more concerned as to what happened yesterday.

At least now I know to check the Tomo and see if it is showing my �Name� and my �Picture�. Perhaps the Tomo isn�t such an alien and menacing machine after all � just the tech!

I am to see my RO next Tuesday. As Sue mentioned, I am going to ask why the Tech doesn�t make me confirm my name and if it is possible to zap the wrong patient.

It may be a silly question but do you think they would admit to possibly zapping the wrong patient..I think not!

Yikes! Sounds like you've had quite the drama with your first few treatments. I hope you get it sorted out soon! Keep checking that screen for your picture! I have a card that my tech scans every morning and it pulls up all my information, but they know who I am now since I am the first patient every morning. Also, I look at my picture on the screen before I lay down most times as well, but that may be me just being vain! (HA! they took my picture on my tenth day in the hospital, I got out the next, I was all swollen and hadn't washed my hair, except with that leave in shampoo stuff, so the picture is just a gentle reminder of how bad I actually looked!)

There is a protocol in place at every hospital to prevent this kind of thing happening. What you are not getting - is that radiation to unneeded parts of your anatomy is damaging, harmful, not targeting your disease, and a lawsuit in the making. This is serious stuff, and you should not take it so lightly. The doctor should be made aware of this and their protocols and that technician brought into the spotlight and put in question. There is supposed to be a log of doses etc. each time the machine is turned on and a patient number assigned to that log, so a record of what took place legally exists. Gary on the boards knows lots about this from a regulatory affairs standpoint, and I hope he will chime in. You have possibly been hurt by a couple days of mistakes. Do not let this slide!!!

Clearly, being incorrectly radiated is considered a patient injury by the FDA and you can report the incident to Medwatch.

The FDA is so strict on this that if the institution loses a CT scan and have to repeat the study that is considered a patient injury due to receiving double the amount of radiation.

There was another incident, a fews years back, where a female patient had her "prostate" irradiated because the patient before her was a "no show" and the techs didn't update the treatment plan.

Unfortunately they run people through LINACS like cattle - many institutions in my area run 2 shifts now.

ALWAYS check the monitor in the treatment room to insure that your name is on it. 1.8-2 gy of radiation probably won't cause permanent long term harm but I would still report it. The tech should be reprimanded. Hospitals are required to do multiple checks to insure that a patient is receiving the correct treatment, wrist bands, answering certain questions, etc.

Your mask should also have your name on it and if it doesn't feel right then they may be using the wrong neck rest or have it positioned backwards.

See: http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/ for how to report the incident

...get this checked out first thing tomorrow! You will not only be helping yourself, but think about the other patients that follow you. If they have a "no show" and don't update their records, then they could indeed radiate the remainder of the patients for that day!

While our hospitals are doing wonders each/every day, humans are still running them and they do indeed make mistakes!

Good Luck!